Bookin’ It! : a Book Book! Alleycat Recap

Book Book! was bursting with unabridged awesomeness. Mega-Ultra-Thanks to Drew Stephan for organizing, to all the gracious sponsors for coming through with killer prizes, and especially to all the generous volunteers and checkpoint workers who put together a great mix of fun and challenging checkpoints.

Turnout was strong, with 65 registered riders, and a few hop-ons. Bike Bike! participants were numerous, friendly, and eager to race despite not knowing their way around our serpentine city. The turnout of fast folks looking to really test each other was impressive, and made for a really competitive, exciting race.

The format of the race was familiar to those who rode our Spring Brake Yrself alleycat. Manifests were handed out at the 1st checkpoint, with several “any order” stops, followed by a “choke point”, after which checkpoints were divulged on a point-to-point basis. At the final checkpoint, the first 15 riders were siphoned to a bonus checkpoint, as Drew said “because we hate them!”

Checkpoints full race results and photos after the jump…

CheckpointsANY ORDER:

Annunciation Square baseball diamond. A shuttle sprint to 1st base and back merited a manifest. I had a flashback to grade school PE.

Katrina Statue on Convention Center Blvd. – “Your name is Stanley and you must call your lover.” came the directions from Amelia Bird. Your best “Stella!” yell got you a sticker.

Ignatius J. Reily statue outside former D.H. Holmes, on Canal. Don a red hunting cap, false mustache, and pirate sword to pose with your new twin. Sorry for getting the hat all sweaty.

Big moonwalk steps on river behind Jackson Square. Local trivia – Boedi and I answered three questions about Mark Twain. I’m really glad they weren’t questions about Anne Rice.

Treme Community Center/Plan B. At this unmanned stop, riders had to find a bird at the community center, then report to Plan B to relay the color of said bird to a worker. I got an Oreo here. It was excellent.

RUBARB. Baby carrots were stuck on the end of spokes, which protruded from milk crates. Hopping like a rabbit and munching a carrot off a spoke got me a stamp and a much healthier snack.

Community Print Shop. A baby pool its seabed, a newspaper ocean brimmed with orange origami koi fish, paperclip lips pursed for a magnetic kiss. I plucked three from the waves with a simple rod, tied with cooking twine line to a magnetic bob.

Lost Love Lounge. The checkpoint workers were hiding behind bushes. As you walked around the corner they leapt forth like process servers, charging you with paperwork, specifically haiku requisition forms. From here the top 15 (racers, not haiku writers) were remanded to the custody of the bonus checkpoint.

*Bonus* Chime Tree at City Park. Each rider was recorded reading a different stanza of the cajun version of Night Before Critmus or whatever it’s called. Was this confusing or extremely bizarre for visitors to read?

Finish at Handsome Willy’s. I ate an outrageously tasty pork burrito that only cost 5 doll hairs, and contained 0 hairs of any variety. The after party was off the chain, with all the out-of-towners throwing down hard. So many awesome prizes got given out. Lots of free booze got handed out. The dance party was still raging when I stumbled away.

PodiumWhen the dust settled, it broke down like this:

1st Overall – Micheal Boedigheimer and Richard Carman (team/tie)

1st Lady – KDHL

3rd Overall- Robert Frank

1st Out-Of-Town – Chris from Anchorage

2nd Out-Of-Town – Darren from Chicago

1st Cruiser – Laura Borealis

Best Stella – Hilary Gunnels

Best Haiku – John from ???

DFL – Matt Robinson and Lisa

Again, much gratitude to all who participated in this race, on any level. This was a really well produced event and was a blast to compete in.